Edison Smart Living: what it is and how it works

Edison Smart Living Starter Kit

Before getting into the tutorial and finding out how Edison Smart Living works, let's see which elements the basic kit supplied by the company is composed of.

• Gateway (or HUB) - it is a small base (similar in appearance to that of a modem) that manages the entire Edison Smart Living system. It includes a video camera, a siren, bright LEDs and capacitive keys, located on the top of the device, which allow you to quickly activate various scenarios of the kit (which we will talk about in a bit). It should also be noted the presence of a slot for 3G cards that allows you to use the gateway as a Wi-Fi hotspot and that of an SD card, thanks to which to record the videos taken by the integrated video camera. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee, Zwave and 868MHz protocols to communicate with all system devices wirelessly. It is powered by a USB cable and has a rechargeable backup battery that allows you to use the device without having to keep it running. To put it into operation, you need to insert the backup battery in the appropriate housing (in the back of the device), then you have to switch it on using the special cable supplied and you have to press and hold the power button (located next to the micro-port). USB) for about 5 seconds. A sound and the flashing of the rear LEDs will confirm the correct switching on of the device.

• Smart Plug - it is a “smart” socket that allows you to manage the remote switching on and off of the devices connected to it and to monitor their consumption. It can be programmed, turned on and off remotely using your smartphone.

• Motion Detector - it is a sensor able to detect the passage of a person (and send alerts when this happens), monitor the temperature of the environment and the level of brightness of the room. It is powered by a battery that is already inside the device. To use it, you must first open it (by unscrewing its lower part) and then remove the tab from the battery contact. It should be placed in a point of the room where the sensor can capture the movements of people passing by (therefore not too high).

• Door Window Sensor - it is a sensor that allows you to receive alerts relating to the opening of a door or a window. It is made up of two elements: a larger one that must be positioned on the edge of the door or window to be monitored and a smaller one, which instead must be positioned right on the door or window (no more than 5mm away from the largest element) . The sensor is powered by a battery that is already inside it. To use it, you must first open the larger component and remove the tab from the battery contact.

The Edison Smart Living Starter Kit can be enriched with smart devices, such as lamps, thermostats and smoke sensors, offered by brands such as Philips, Netatmo, D-Link, Nest, Fitbit and Withings. To find out more, visit Edison's official website. To purchase the products, instead, go to the Edison online shop.

Initial configuration of Edison Smart Living

After examining the devices that are part of the basic kit of Edison Smart Living, I would say that we can deepen the functioning of this system and see, together, how to take the first steps with it. I assure you that it is really child's play, on the other hand all the components of the kit are pre-configured to communicate wirelessly with the gateway, that is, with the base that manages everything.

As already mentioned above, the first step that needs to be taken is to operate the Edison Smart Living gateway. Then insert the backup battery in the back of the gateway, connect it to the power supply and hold down the power button of the device for about 5 seconds, until the rear LEDs light up and the welcome music is played.

Next, grab your smartphone (or tablet), open it store of the latter and download the free application Edison Smart Living which is available for both Android and iOS. When the download is complete, start the Edison Smart Living app and create a free account within it by "tapping" on the item Subscribe. If you are using an iOS device and the application asks for your permission to send you notifications, accept. In this way you will be able to receive notifications in real time from the devices that you will integrate into your Smart Living system (e.g. the motion sensor or the door / window sensor).

Now, fill out the form that is proposed to you by entering it email address, Password to be used to access the Edison account (to be repeated also in the field Confirm password), name, last name e fiscal Code. Then accept the conditions of use of Edison's services by placing the check mark next to the items I accept the contract e I accept the privacy policy, copy the captcha code in the text field at the bottom of the screen and presses the button Subscribe.

Mission accomplished! You now have an Edison account, but you need to verify your identity in order to use it. Then open your e-mail box, "tap" on the link sent to you by Edison at the address you indicated in the registration form and that's it.

Once your Edison account is activated, you can take action. Then go back to the app Edison Smart Living and log in to it using, precisely, the data of the account you just activated. By placing the check mark next to the appropriate item, you can make the application remember your login details and not ask you for them every time.

At this point, you need to temporarily disconnect from your Wi-Fi network and connect to the Wi-Fi network generated by the Edison Smart Living gateway. Then go to the menu Settings> Wi-Fi of your smartphone or tablet, select the network named ALYT_XX:XX:XX (where instead of the "X" there will be numbers and letters) and access it using the key 12345678.

Once the connection is established, open the app Edison Smart Living, select your gateway name (ALYT_XX:XX:XX) and enter the device administration password. The password in question can be found on the label located on the back of the gateway, it is the one located next to the entry DEVICE PSW and is composed exclusively of numbers and capital letters. By putting the check mark next to the item Save password / Remember me in the app, you can make it remember the gateway password and never ask for it again.

Now you have to take two last steps: you have to associate the gateway to your Wi-Fi connection (that of the router you use to surf the Internet) and to your Edison account, in order to be able to control your Smart Living system even remotely, via the Internet. , when you are not at home.

To associate the Edison Smart Living gateway to your Wi-Fi network, press the button menu located at the top left of the Smart Living app (the white circle icon with 6 green dots inside), then select the item Settings from the menu that appears on the side and go up Wi-Fi configuration.

At this point, select yours WIFI network (the one you normally use to connect to the Internet), type in the access key and press the button Save. So make sure there is a check mark next to the item Automatic configuration (unless you want to set the gateway with Static IP) to "tap" su Save to complete the Wi-Fi network pairing procedure.

Now wait approximately 40 seconds, open the Edison Smart Living app again and log in to your gateway. Then press the button menu located at the top left, select the item Settings from the menu that appears on the side and go up Cloud configuration.

Then fill in the form that is proposed to you with the data of your Edison account (the fields may already be filled in automatically) and first press the button Register and then Cancel to associate the gateway with your Edison account.

Perfect! Now you can control your Edison Smart Living system even remotely simply by opening the Smart Living app and selecting theicon with cloud from its home screen.

How to use Edison Smart Living

Now the Edison Smart Living system is ready to be used. Then place the Smart Plug and the sensors in the kit where you prefer and have fun managing everything from your smartphone (or tablet) using the Edison Smart Living app.

Manage and control devices

To manage and control the devices that are part of the Edison Smart Living system, you must start the app Smart Living and log into your Gateway by selecting it from the screen that opens. If you are at home (or in any case within range of the gateway), you can choose whether to access the device directly or to control it via the Internet by selecting the cloud icon.

Once logged in (you will need to type your gateway password), you will be automatically redirected to the menu devices, through which you can comfortably manage the devices included in Edison Smart Living. Going into more detail, if you have the Edison Smart Living basic kit, you will find five items in the menu.

• Smart Plug - through which to view the consumption of the devices connected to the "smart" socket of Smart Living and turn the latter on or off (by pressing the I / O placed under the name of the latter).
• Motion Detector - to monitor the degree of brightness (lx) and the temperature (° C) of the room where you placed the motion sensor. The icon of the bluebellinstead, it indicates whether the alarm is active or not.
• Door window sensor - to know the status of the sensor for doors and windows. The icon of the bluebell indicates whether the alarm is active or not.
• ALYT KEYS - to set the operation of the capacitive keys on the front of the gateway, each of which can be associated with one scenario different.
• ALYT CAM - to view in real time the footage of the camera included in the gateway (button play) and activate the recording (button REC).

By selecting the name of each device (eg. SMART PLUG for the Smart Plug), you can decide whether to rename it (by pressing the button Modification) or remove it from the app (by pressing the button Delete). By pressing the icon instead sheet located at the top right, it is possible to add a new device to the Smart Living system. The procedure for pairing a new device is extremely simple and intuitive: just select the brand of the product from the menu that appears and follow the instructions on the screen.

Please note: if you are already logged in to the Edison Smart Living app, you can enter the device menu at any time by pressing the button menu located at the top left (the white circle icon with 6 green dots inside) and selecting the item devices from the menu that appears on the side.

Create and manage rules

The devices that are part of Edison Smart Living can be managed by creating special devices rules. Through the rules it is possible to "tell" a device how it should behave following the occurrence of one or more events. For example, you can set the motion sensor so that it sends notifications if the room temperature reaches values ​​above or below a certain threshold; you can start recording from the gateway camera if the door / window sensor triggers an alarm and so on. The only limit to creating the rules is your own imagination!

To create new rules and manage existing ones, start the app Edison Smart Living, log in to your Gateway, pigia sul pulsating menu che si trova in alto a sinistra e seleciona la voce Regole from the menu that appears on the side. Then choose which rules to activate or deactivate (using the levers located next to their names) and start the creation of new rules by pressing the icon of the sheet which is located at the top right.

In the screen that opens, press on all the available fields and build a rule based on your needs. In the field name you have to type the name to be assigned to the rule, in always active you can choose the days and times in which to enforce the rule, while in Se you have to choose the device and the condition that should trigger the rule (eg. Door window sensor e alarm to trigger the rule in the event of a door / window sensor alarm). You can also set more than one condition, in fact other fields will appear Se.

Once you have set the trigger (i.e. the element that should trigger the rule), you can set the actual rule. Pigia then on the field Then and first select the device that must take action and then the action that must perform. For example, to trigger the recording by the camera included in the gateway, you must first select ALYT Cam and then Register (setting the number of minutes and seconds to record accordingly).

Finally, choose whether to set a delay between the trigger and the execution of the rule and whether to receive any notifications via email, push or audio e pulsing sul pulsating Save to complete your rule.

Manage scenarios

Edison Smart Living can also work on the basis of usage scenarios, that is, sets of customizable rules that allow the user to choose which devices to use and which not to use in various circumstances. For example, it is possible to create a scenario for the evening that activates certain lights connected to Edison Smart Living, a scenario for when you are at home and therefore you do not need to track movements nearby, and so on.

By default there is a scenario named Away from home which, if activated, turns on the motion sensor and the door / window sensor (in order to receive notifications in case of detection of suspicious movements), but as mentioned before it is also possible to create customized scenarios and modify the behavior of the devices included in Edison Smart Living freely according to your needs.

If you want to manage the scenarios included in Edison Smart Living or create new ones, access the Smart Living app, press the button menu che si trova in alto a sinistra e seleciona la voce Scenarios from the menu that appears on the side. At this point you can choose whether to activate or deactivate the scenarios already included in the app (by activating or deactivating the levers located next to their names) or to create new ones by "tapping" on the icon of the sheet located at the top right.

Creating a scenario is very intuitive. All you have to do is type the name you want to assign to the latter in the appropriate text field and press the button Add option to select the device or the rule to be activated or deactivated when the scenario is active. You can select how many devices and how many rules you want.

If you wish, you can also set the activity to be performed when the scenario is deactivated. This means that you can make a device switch on automatically when the scenario is active and make it switch off, or keep it active, when the scenario is deactivated (just answer Yes prompt that appears on the screen when creating a new option and choose the desired item from the screen that opens).

Finally, choose whether to receive one notify audio when the scenario is activated (putting the check mark next to the appropriate item) and "tap" the button Save to save the latter.

To speed up the management of scenarios and quickly activate or deactivate them, you can access the section Home Edison Smart Living and add links to them. To access the Home section of Edison Smart Living, all you have to do is press the button menu located at the top left and select the item Home from the bar that appears on the side. To add a scenario to the menu, however, all you have to do is press the button [+] e selecionare prima la voce Scenarios and then the scenario of your interest from the screen that opens.

When the operation is completed, you can activate and deactivate the scenarios added to the Home menu simply by "tapping" on them. It is also possible to activate more than one scenario at a time.

Other features of Edison Smart Living

Now let me quickly illustrate the other sections of the Edison Smart Living app, which, almost needless to say, you can access by pressing the button menu which is at the top left (the white circle with the 6 green dots inside).

• Events - is the menu in which all the events related to the devices and the Edison Smart Living app are listed, such as the activation of a scenario, the detection of a movement by the sensors and so on.
• Recordings - is the screen through which to review the recordings made through the gateway camera.
• users - it is a menu accessible only by accessing the Edison Smart Living app remotely (therefore pressing the cloud icon at the beginning) and allows, precisely, to configure the users who have permission to access Smart Living.
• Apps - is the panel that allows you to manage the applications related to Edison Smart Living, for example the Netatmo app, to be used if new devices are added to the basic kit.
• Settings - in this menu it is possible to change the gateway administration password, change the Wi-Fi network associated with the device, manage the Edison account for cloud services, know the charge level of the gateway (to use it disconnected from the current) and update the device software.

Learn more about Edison Smart Living

To conclude, let me answer a few questions that you are sure to be asking yourself at this point in the tutorial and that, I hope, will help you understand even more how Edison Smart Living works.

• Do I need to be an Edison customer to use Edison Smart Living? no, it is possible to purchase the kit even if you have supplies for energy and gas other than Edison's.
• How much - 19,90 euros / month (in promotion compared to the standard price of 29,90 euros / month) and without any initial expense. Payment must be made by bank account. To purchase, you can go directly to the Edison website.
• Can the purchase of Edison Smart Living be canceled? in case of second thoughts, you can exercise the right of withdrawal within 14 days by sending the Edison Smart Living Starter Kit to the Edison Energia warehouse (by courier). After 14 days from delivery, you can withdraw from the contract by paying a contribution of 349 euros equal to the discount on the Starter Kit initially obtained. The figure is no longer due to exceeding the 24-month subscription period.

If you have any other doubts regarding Edison Smart Living, consult the Edison official website or call the Edison toll-free number 800.031.141 Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:30.

Article produced in collaboration with Edison.

Edison Smart Living: what it is and how it works